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2014 Kansas City Gameday HQ

MAD DOG HAS HIS DAY
The selection of Greg Maddux came as little
surprise. What may have been surprising was
that he wasn’t chosen unanimously. He came
close, getting named on 97.2 percent of the
ballots (named on 555 of the 571 ballots).
The selection of Maddux, one of the
brainiest pitchers ever to toe the rubber, was
a no-brainer. Although rather pedestrian in
frame—he stood 6-0, 170 pounds—with slim,
wire-framed glasses (off the field, that is),
Gregory Allen Maddux earned the nickname
“Mad Dog” and “The Professor” while
personifying a pitcher.
“It’s a very humbling experience,”
said Maddux, who chose a fitting, albeit
interesting word to summarize his career.
“I guess overachieve would be a good
one, in one word.“
Overmatch would fit as well, as that’s
how hitters facing Maddux probably felt.
Despite taking the mound with a fastball that
topped out right around 90, Maddux had a
plan and his IQ.
In 23 big league seasons with the Chicago
Cubs, who drafted him on the second round
of the 1984 Draft, then the Atlanta Braves,
Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres,
Maddux pitched to a 355-227 record with a
3.16 ERA. His 355 victories rank eighth in Major
League history. An eight-time All-Star, he led
the NL in wins three times and from 1992-95
owned the Cy Young Award. When he didn’t
win it, he came close, finishing in the top five
on five other occasions.
But Maddux’s style was more impressive
than his numbers. After a couple of tough
seasons filled with growing pains early in
his career (2-4 in 1986 and 6-14 in 1987 as a
21-year-old rookie), he became the elite pitcher
of his generation, winning at least 15 games 17
consecutive seasons.
He was a master of location, and control,
playing a cat-and-mouse game with hitters that
they couldn’t figure out. He subtly manipulated
the strike zone, adding an inch here and an
inch there to the outside and inside corners,
which over the course gradually widened the
strike zone and resulted in pitches frustrated
hitters and managers referred to as “The
Maddux Strike.”
His theory of pitching was simple: “Hitting
is timing. Pitching is disrupting timing.” He
frustrated hitters to the point that when they
weren’t watching his back-up slider hit the
corner they often couldn’t pull the trigger on a
fastball that bisected the plate.
When the ball was hit in play, Maddux
was superb at fielding his position. He won
a Major-League record 18 Gold Gloves and
finished his career with an immaculate .970
fielding percentage.
Although not big, he was durable with a
smooth delivery, making 740 starts, fourth
most in Major League history, pitching 5,008
2/3 innings (tied for 13th all-time), and pitched
at least 200 innings 18 times. For a pitcher who
wasn’t known as a strikeout artist, Maddux
finished 10th on the all-time strikeout list,
ringing up 3,371 batters.
Excellence of Execution
Tom Glavine was the left-handed
complement to Maddux.
Almost the exact same size, Glavine was
6-0, 175, but there were differences.
Glavine, who also earned better than 90
percent of the vote, getting 91.9 (525 votes),
was a great athlete and a two-sport star—he
was drafted by the National Hockey League’s
Los Angeles Kings on the fourth round (69th
overall) of the 1984 Draft, ahead of future Hall
of Famers Luc Robitaille and Brett Hull.
He also was more averse to changing
things up—unless, he was throwing his
devastating change-up.
Selected by the Braves on the second
Glavine
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